My Plantcentric Journey

Archive for the ‘Cholesterol’ Category

Oh my gosh! I made Mexican Chowder from Lindsay Nixon’s Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook. It is amazing-hot or cold! So cheesy-like, thick and great.

TIPS: As you know, Happy Herbivore cookbooks are my go-to favorites. I usually have what I need in my pantry, and if I don’t, I can just substitute. Like I always say, “Use what you have.” For example, I doubled this recipe and did not have two green peppers, so I threw in two packages of sliced mushrooms that I was getting antsy about going bad in my fridge. I also only had brown miso, not the yellow type called for. This dish turned out fantastic.

Also, I only use organic corn due to all other corn being GMO–same with soy (and NEVER soy protein isolate). I always portion out the servings into separate bowls and refrigerate the extras for the next day’s meal. That way, I don’t overeat.

Our sons live across the country now, but my gift to my husband, Bill, was us re-watching the movie, Forks Over Knives.

It was about 3 years ago, when we watched it for the first time. After it was done, my husband turned to me and firmly said, “I’m going vegan. You don’t have to, but I am.” I was filled with trepidation. What would we eat? But I shakily said with a gulp, “If you’re going to, I will to.” Bill now says, that inside, he was so scared that he was silently screaming, “No! No! I didn’t mean it! I was only kidding!” But he never shared that. He said OK. And from that moment on, we never looked back and changed our lives.

We got our copy of Forks Over Knives from the library, but you can watch it for a nominal fee on Netflix and YouTube. Get more info at http://www.forkoverknives.com There you can sign up for free newsletters with recipes, etc.

I’ve been contacted by Lindsay S Nixon, author of the wonderful Happy Hervivore cookbooks, and she wants to give a special holiday gift to one loyal reader of itsadecision.com! One of you will have your very own copy of her brand new book sent right to you (as long as you’re in the USA or Canada)!

Happy Herbivore books have super fast and easy recipes that use whole foods, are plant-based and use no oil. Some recipes that are in the book are: Citrus Couscous, Soba Peanut Noodles, Caribbean Chili and more. And in Happy Herbivore Light & Lean, Lindsay also shares workout plans. Every plant-based kitchen needs Happy Herbivore books. I make her recipes all the time, and they’re family faves.

Thai Crunch Salad

Just write a comment under this post and let me know why you are plant-based. I’ll pick a winner!

As my readers already know, I am a big fan of Happy Herbivore, Lindsay S. Nixon. I was lucky enough to be included on her blog tour for her last

book, Happy Herbivore Abroad, and now I’ve been chosen again to be on her latest blog tour for her upcoming book, Happy Herbivore Light & Lean,

coming out in November! Fun!

This new book contains over 150 low-calorie recipes that take only 30 minutes or less. They contain no added oil, processed foods or artificial sweeteners. Very Plantcentric! PLUS, for the first time, she includes basic workouts, tips & tricks, her personal fitness regime, demo photos of each exercise and an all-in-one “body bash.” All her recipes in this book are 350 calories or less.

What I love about Happy Herbivore recipes is that they use everyday ingredients and are quick, healthy and easy. I go back to her cookbooks over and over again. As a matter of fact, my husband is in the kitchen right now making her Vegetable Korma from Happy Herbivore Abroad!

I recently got to ask Lindsay a few questions:

I love behind-the scenes info! How do you come up with your recipes, and what is it like in your kitchen when you’re experimenting, cooking, tasting, etc?

Lindsay: It’s a giant mess! When I’m working on a cookbook, I pretty much spend 8-10 hours in the kitchen cooking and trying things. By the end of the day my sink is overflowing with dirty dishes. There isn’t a single clean spoon in the house. Every spice is on the counter. The pantry has been stripped down, its contents all over the counter, table, floor…My husband and dogs won’t even come in the kitchen until I’m done. LOL!

Do you ever have any flops?

Lindsay: Absolutely. Everyone does.

Do you have tasting parties?

Lindsay: I have a wonderful team of testers who test all the recipes in their home for me – to make sure it works, comes out, tastes good, etc.

I asked Lindsay if I could share with you her Thai Crunch Salad with Thai Peanut Dressing that will be in her new book Happy Herbivore Light and Lean, and she graciously agreed!

Thai Crunch

Single serving

Gluten-free, Quick, Budget, Single Serving

Before I was plant-based, I loved the Thai Crunch salad at California Pizza Kitchen. I finally decided to re-create a lighter vegan version of it for this cookbook. It’s easy, fresh, fast, and satisfying. (I also loved their Original BBQ Chicken Chopped salad, hence my BBQ Salad [in full cookbook] recipe!) By the way, CPK is one of the vegan-friendliest restaurant chains in the US. They have a PDF online indicating which menu items are suitable for vegans and vegetarians.

4 c napa cabbage, red cabbage, or lettuce (or a combination)

1 carrot, julienned

2 green onions, sliced

¼ – ½ c edamame

½ cucumber, sliced or diced

Thai Peanut Dressing

crushed peanuts (optional garnish)

cilantro (optional)

lime wedges (garnish)

Toss cabbage/lettuce, carrot, green onions, edamame, and cucumber together in a salad bowl, then top with Thai Peanut Dressing, crushed peanuts, and cilantro (if using), and garnish with a lime wedge. (I also love squeezing fresh lime juice over the salad.)

Chef’s Note: For a soy-free version, substitute chickpeas for the edamame.

For the millions who are following a plant-based diet, as well as those meat-eaters who are considering it, MY BEEF WITH MEAT is the definitive guide to convincing all that it’s truly the best way to eat! New

York Times Bestselling author of The Engine 2 Diet and nutrition lecturer Rip Esselstyn, is back and ready to arm readers with the knowledge they need to win any argument with those who doubt the health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Esselstyn reveals information on the foods that most people believe are healthy, yet that scientific research shows are not. Some foods, in fact, he deems so destructive they deserve a warning label.

Want to prevent heart attacks, stroke, cancer and Alzheimer’s? Then learn the facts and gain the knowledge to convince those skeptics that they are misinformed about plant-base diets, for instance:

• You don’t need meat and dairy to have strong bones or get enough protein

• You get enough calcium and iron in plants

• The myth of the Mediterranean diet

• There is a serious problem with the Paleo diet

• If you eat plants, you lose weight and feel great

MY BEEF WITH MEAT proves the Engine 2 way of eating can optimize health and ultimately save lives and includes more than 145 delicious recipes to help readers reach that goal.

About Rip:

Rip Esselstyn was born in upstate New York, raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and educated at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a three-time All-American swimmer. After graduation Rip spent a decade as one of the premier triathletes in the world. He then joined the Austin Fire Department where he introduced his passion for a whole-food, plant-based diet to Austin’s Engine 2 Firehouse in order to rescue a firefighting brother’s health. To document his success he wrote the national bestselling book, The Engine 2 Diet, which shows the irrefutable connection between a plant-based diet and good health.

Recently Rip left his job as a firefighter to team up with Whole Foods Market as one of their Healthy Eating Partners to raise awareness for Whole Foods employees, customers, and communities about the benefits of eating a plant-strong diet. He has appeared on hundreds of radio shows as well as national television shows, including the Today show, CBS Sunday Morning Show, Good Morning America, and The Dr. Oz Show.

Rip lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Jill Kolasinski and their two beautiful children, Kole and Sophie.

Why did you write this book?

I’ve discovered that there is a HUGE disconnect between what people think is healthy and what medical science knows to be healthy; for example, people have been bamboozled into believing that olive oil, Greek yogurt, chicken, and fish are healthy. Many people think the diet of the day is salmon, low fat dairy, and olive oil, washed down with a glass of red wine and a Lipitor pill for good measure. This is how confused, distracted, and off-course we have gotten–because this is

NOT a good diet!

This book explains to plant eaters and meat eaters alike why a whole food, plant-strong diet rocks on a jillion different levels, hence the subtitle: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet. The primary driving force behind the book was to delve deeper into the major myths that keep surfacing about eating plants, such as: “You won’t get enough protein”, “You won’t get enough calcium”, “Eating plants is too expensive”, “Real men (and women) eat meat”, “Olive oil is heart-healthy”, and “Moderation in everything.”

The book shows how wrong each of these myths is. It gives the reader real science, not fad-diet talk. One of the titles we thought about was “How to Win an Argument with a Meat-eater” and believe me, after reading this book, you will never lose another argument with a carnivore again.

By the way, once you’ve won the argument, you can start cooking up any one of the 140 lipsmacking, rib-sticking outrageously good recipes to prove your point with food as well as with words.

There are some controversial things you tackle in this book, like The Paleo Diet. Why did you decide to address that specific diet?

The two big dueling diets right now are paleo and planteo. I believe that the paleo diet is just a good gimmick. The paleo people have taken the South Beach/Atkins diets and put a little spin on it. There are some positives with paleo, such as no refined or processed foods, and no dairy products. But any diet that promotes animal products with saturated fats, and animal protein isn’t promoting health. The consensus among the researchers who have studied the diets of humans in paleo times have said that at least 80 percent of their food was plant-based. Yes, they ate some animals, but we’ve evolved since then, we’re smarter; we do not need, want, or get healthy from animal products. Back in the day, you would do anything you could to get calories into your body–it was a matter of survival. But in this day and age, you can go down the street to any grocery store and get all that you need without resorting to animal flesh. An interesting article in US News & World Report in 2011 reviewed many different popular diets and decided that the one people should avoid is the paleo diet.

What about the people who say that they get results from a paleo diet?

That’s because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is such an abomination you will get good results when switching to any diet that is even remotely healthier. If you want to get to the next step, cut out the meat!

There are a couple of chapters that talk about how plant-strong can make you stronger in the bedroom. Why do plants help in that department?

Plants help in a number of ways. When you are eating meat/dairy/processed foods, your arteries clog up. Believe it or not, the smallest artery men have is the artery to the penis, so it’s not surprising that one of the first signs of heart disease is erectile dysfunction (ED). When you start eating a plant-strong diet, you begin to metabolize away some of the fat/cholesterol that you’ve built up, and you start to restore your endothelial lining. As my dad (Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn) likes to say, “Endothelial cells are the life jacket of your vascular system.” They are the inner lining of our 65,000 miles of vessels. When you bring them back to life, they produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide allows those vessels to open up. When that happens, it allows for more blood flow, which is key to a great erection.

Interestingly, the one area that we have more endothelial cells per unit volume is the male penis. It’s amazing how many guys e-mail us and tell us about their ED going away. Likewise, women experience similar success. When they cut out the animal products and processed junk foods, they have increased blood flow to the clitoris and surrounding tissues, which creates lubrication. We’ve also received hundreds of e-mails from women telling us about their new, healthier sex life as a result of going plant-strong.

So remember guys and gals plant-strong makes you pant-strong!

Do your kids like eating this way?

My kids, Kole and Sophie, do not like eating this way–they LOVE eating this way! They have no interest in eating anything from animals. If they find out that cake and ice-cream offered to them has things like eggs, butter or milk they politely decline. Kole and Sophie love mangoes, grapefruit, brown rice, baked tofu, peanut butter on whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, cheese-less whole grain pizza and banana ice-cream. Kole was hungry, and I told him I’d give him anything he wanted. Guess what he asked for…. he asked for broccoli!

What about athletes–can they be plant-strong?

Yes they can and should be plant-strong. It is the absolute dope when it comes to taking your athletic performance to the next level. When I was a full time triathlete, I was guilty of taking performance enhancing…… foods. They are nature’s legal performance enhancing drugs! Plants give you an abundance of protein, water, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals that support your body after training. Plants are loaded with clean, unprocessed carbs that will replace depleted glycogen stores in your muscle and liver–allowing you to train harder, adapt faster, and improve quicker.

Plants give you a dose of alkaline, and anti-inflammatory substances that protect you from the stresses of long training days. Plants give you a clear head that will allow you to focus like a laser beam. Plants give you youthful arteries that will improve blood flow to all of your working muscles for maximum oxygen uptake. Plants strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy and free from illness. Plants give you a lean and muscular body that doesn’t carry excessive weight. When you are eating plant-strong, you are getting unprocessed carbs, healthy fats, plant-proteins, fiber and anti oxidants — all of the things that your body relishes and craves and takes your performance to the next level.

What else do you have a beef with?

The huge disconnect with what people think is healthy and what we actually know to be healthy. This creates confusion and distraction. The answer is so incredibly simple. Eat more whole plantbased foods!